It’s a known fact that I have been struggling with weightloss for a long time now without any help from any diets or specific training programs. Everything I’ve tried has failed! I think I now know why. Before I get into that, I wanna discuss the problem…
Okay, so over the last couple of years, I have been having problems with losing weight. In fact, three (almost four) years ago, I started doing Crossfit and shortly after that, started the Paleo diet. I cannot lie, I went from 225 pounds down to 201 pounds at my lowest! I’m talking hard core paleo with zone and my training was twice a day with 10-20 mile rides daily during the work week. Any normal person would have been skin and bone with what I was doing!
The workouts continued and so did the paleo diet for almost two years. I stopped paleo when I began gaining all the weight back. Yep, I got all the way back to 225 pounds. BTW, I am only 5’9″ and should weigh about 185 tops! Yep, I am 40 pounds overweight!
I’ve tried everything! I’ve starved myself, ate 5 small meals a day, ate 3 bigger meals a day, cut out just about everything bad and still no use. I then came down with a staff infection and you can guess what happened next! I gained another 10 pounds and now hanging out at 235 pounds! At this point, I’m really fucking frustrated and lost at the same time. I had no idea what direction to go because in my mind, I’ve tried everything.
I began trying to think back to what has changed when I never had a major issue with weight. About six years ago, I developed an internal itch that just wouldn’t go away. It wasn’t bad, but a bit annoying. Enough that I went to my doctor and asked what it could be. Now mind you, I’ve never been allergic to anything. The first thing she thought was I am allergic to something. So she tells me to go out and buy Zyrtec and see if that helps.
I went to the store and picked up a bottle of Zyrtec… Holy shit that crap is expensive! Anyway, I took a pill and relief was within about 20 to 30 minutes or so. I thought she was a hero for that and that’s when I started my six year addiction to Zyrtec! The reason I call it an addiction is because when you don’t have it in your system, the itching is 100 times worse than it ever was before taking the pill. I’ve tried on several occasions to quit, but thought that my problem never went away. I never put two and two together and thought about the cure becoming the disease!
To be honest with you, I have no idea how many times I’ve tried to quit the crap only to crawl back to it like some sort of junkie needing a fucking hit off of a crack pipe or something. Over the last 3 weeks, I have been pretty darn strict about my diet other than a bit of peanut butter and honey on a spoon. Yum! Another addiction my uncle Wallace showed me way back when I was a little boy not much older than 8 years old! Okay, back to the story… I have increased my workouts and have added a 1 hour walk everyday. By rights, I should have lost at least 10 pounds by now. Nope! Still right at 225 pounds!!!
Last night, I started googling all different kinds of phrases about not being able to lose weight. After about an hour of using this fucked up bandwidth they say we have on research, I stumbled across a post on a forum about weight gain while on Zyrtec! It was like a fucking light bulb went off in my head and everything made sense now! The missing puzzle piece has been discovered. At least I think it has been. I have yet to go off Zyrtec because I know what to expect. Intense itching to the point of killing someone to help fight the itch… In other words, I will be one mean and angry son of a bitch after just 24 hours off Zyrtec!
I continue to research Zyrtec and now I’ve changed from losing weight to getting off Zyrtec! It appears I am not alone in this itching world after all. I seems to me like there are probably a few million people in the same boat and millions of them, like me do not know the side effects of Zyrtec. The intense itching for several weeks after quitting cold turkey. Yep, from the sounds of it I will be breaking the habit after 6 weeks of the most intense itching sensation you will ever experience!
Now I look back and I am very angry with that doctor who advised me to get on this sorry ass drug. I am also pissed off at the drug companies for not putting a warning label on the bottle letting us know what to expect. I am especially pissed off at the FDA for appearing to do nothing about it! The FDA and doctor’s seem to not care about what happens after trying to quit drugs like these. I guess it is up to us to figure out a way to get off the drugs. It’s not telling what I’ve been masking over the last 6 years or what I have done to myself!
So where does this leave me? Hooked on Zyrtec and no real support in trying to get off it. I’ve quit many things in the past. Chewing tobacco was the hardest no doubt! But this is different. This is such an intense burning itch under the skin that you’d tear the skin off if that didn’t hurt so darn bad. I’ve even read stories of people losing their damn minds and wanting to commit suicide over this damn drug! What the fuck did that doctor do to me? I already have issues with anger at times like when someone has stolen from me. Now I quit Zyrtec? Sounds like I’ve got a big fight on my hands keeping a stable mind through this horror film.
Losing weight is more important to me than that damn sorry ass itch. So I plan on going cold turkey and just deal with the itch over the next 6 weeks or so. When the itch is bad enough, I will have to resort back to the old days of running hot water over the hands until the itch goes away. If the itch travels, I will just have to go take a shower to stop the itching. The hands and the feet are the worst for sure! 6 weeks, her we go… I’ll keep you posted as long as I haven’t gone postal. 😉